Is tipping 'required'? Am I in the wrong?

[Byniri]

So I made this thread in the official forums, and I want to see what you people at mmo-champ think about this:

Little backstory about me and tips: I usually tip people. If I had to calculate the percentage of the time that I tip, I'd usually say around 95% or so, with the other 5% being with guildies or random times when I don't tip. Mages, JCs, etc, I usually tip between 10-30 gold, sometimes going up to 100 or even 1k depending on how I'm feeling. However, if someone demands a tip, I will refuse to tip them.

Now on to my story: Earlier today, I was looking for a blacksmith to make a Mithril Coif for my Hunter alt. I had the mats and everything. After finding someone, I had him make the helm. He mentioned nothing beforehand about requiring any sort of payment. When he opened trade, I quickly hit my trade button without putting in a tip (I was annoyed at having to sit for 15mins to find ONE blacksmith and just wanted the damn helm).

Before I could cancel and enter a tip, he starts yelling several vulgar insults at me, about 'being a cheap prick', and various things. Because he demanded a tip (and was very rude at it), I refused to tip him. Because I refused to tip him, he closed trade and refused to give me the helm (which, remember, were made from MY mats). He keeps screaming vulgar insults, and eventually it gets into trade (most people agreed with me, the BS was an idiot). I reported him for taking the helm made from my mats (which I was told IS a bannable offense), and went about my business. I even tipped a mage with 22g twice within the next 5 minutes for 2 ports, and this dude was still raging. I end up buying more mats and having a guildy craft the helm. The guy who ripped me off ends up getting shredded by people in chat, for ripping me off and various other things.

Now the cost of the helm wasn't the problem; it was a total of 20 gold spent in total. What I was annoyed with is that this guy was just demanding a TIP and refused to give me my helm. Although the blacksmith was getting ripped apart in trade, it made me think; do you guys think that 'tips' are required for every sort of transaction (even for greens made with your own mats)? Was I the person in the wrong here?

[Avar ize]

you cant demand tip, if he does then its a fee not a tip
stupid people are stupid

anyways, you where not in the wrong, if he dident demand a fee then he shouldent expect getting anything at all, i never tip anyone at all, but i will pay fee's if people ask for it

[Hedleyazg]

I never required tips when I picked locks on my rogue or made potions for people. I just put tips were appreciated in my spam. Sometimes I'd get tipped 1g for 10 lockboxes or sometimes I would get 25 per box from a guy that had 30-50 lockboxes. Demanding tips from people is a fast track to getting people to not want to have you do things. Now if you say I can do X for X amount of gold, then yes but, that is not a tip.

[dantian]

Is it 'required'? No.

But you're a douche if you don't tip, and people will remember.

[Downgrade]

I have +tip in my macros, I dont care if its 1 gold or 1000gold. Call it a fee if you want. But either way Im getting SOME gold from you to use a profession I leveled. Normally I ask for the tip in advance (for crafting) or if Im feeling prickish if they dont tip I keep the gem and buy them an uncut one and trade it back. The way I see it, if you dont want to tip, then level the profession yourself. I didn't level it to give people free stuff. But lately, I havent really cared if they tipped or not (to the point of insulting) I just click trade anyways and think something quietly to myself. It's not like gold is hard to make.

[icedwarrior]

You are absolutely not in the wrong. A tip is not required; if it were, it would be a charge, not a tip. I don't think you were "doing the right thing" because you didn't tip (because you had to wait? That's when I tip more for finally finding someone), but it's nothing to rage about, and stake your reputation on.

[Downgrade]

Another side note, people tipped 5-20g in vanilla, when 100g was enough for a week of raiding and 1,000g epic mount was rare.

[bals]

man there was a thread just like this on my realm forums.
well not exactly but same scenario

i have my profs to raise my stats for raiding, not to make money.
yeah it's nice when people tip but it's not a big deal if they don't

[Irraticate]

I don't mind not getting tips as a Mage. I stand in SW and most people come to me. All I have to do is click the portal button, the city, and wait.
It's not problem to me at all, I wasn't doing anything anyway.
A nice person will tip me 5-10 gold and that's MORE than enough for mats to make portals, so it really doesn't bother me in the slightest.

When I make potions and stuff for people (on my Mage again), they usually fly over to me and have mats. I make whatever they want, trade, done. I didn't move. Didn't waste my time.
So no, tipping isn't required. If it was required, it's a fee (as Avar ize said).

BUT, I do usually ask a random question before making a portal or potions and such. Usually it's "Whats your favorite Pokemon? Cannot be Pikachu.", or "Name the starter Pokemon in Gold, Silver and Crystal." While not all of them are Pokemon trivia, those are the only ones I can remember off the top of my head. If they can't answer it, they better be a nice person or they ain't getting squat.

[Drihan]

you cant demand tip, if he does then its a fee not a tip
stupid people are stupid

anyways, you where not in the wrong, if he dident demand a fee then he shouldent expect getting anything at all, i never tip anyone at all, but i will pay fee's if people ask for it

This.

I hate it when people demand a tip when linking their profession in general chat, especially when they go into detail on the type/ilvl of the items they are able to make. That makes it a payment or a fee, not a tip. A tip is a gift from the costumer when the producer makes a product or handles the costumer in a way that makes the costumer feel like the producer deserves a little something extra for the good service. Could also think of it as a donation.

[tennesseej]

While I disagree with the Blacksmith in your story, because you didn't agree on a tip/fee/price beforehand, I think tipping should be done in all cases even if they are asking for it.

I /ignore people who don't tip. It's just a courtesy, if I am going to take time to do something for you, throw a little love my way.

[schwarzkopf]

I don't require a tip or a fee for crafting stuff with your materials.

I do however require a delivery tip or fee for you getting the resultant item

[kilometer18]

Frankly, it seems like you're too busy upholding your "if they demand a tip, I won't tip" mentality. You wasted your own time by arguing with that kid and then ended up spending more money than you had to by buying the mats a second time.

tl;dr Don't waste time being a hardliner, move along and keep playing.

p.s. beatingadeadhorse.jpg

[Nelfie]

If you were going to a restaurant, and the waiter (while writing down your order) demands that you tip him, would you do that? (Let's assume it's the same guy making the food)

[yetgdhfgh]

Tipping is the reason i decided to get every proffesion in the game

its not that im a cheap skate ive always tiped its just i was fed up with people attitude

once i gave a jc a generous tip when i handed over the mats but when it came time for him to hand over the gems he said i needed to tip him well i told him that i did and he swore that i didnt it was kinda my fault for tipping at the start of the transaction but that put me off ever for asking for anything

i like to be self sufficient it saves me so much hassle and gold

[Oerba Yun Fang]

If you require a tip, it's no longer a tip; it's a charge.

[Oneru]

As an alchemist/enchanter, I usually ask a fee when someone asks to make use of my profession. However, if you don't mention it before trading, then it's your own fault if you don't get anything. In your case, I can understand your reaction being one of principle, but don't you think it would have been a lot easier on everyone to just give the sad soul 2g or something? Wouldn't hurt you, would make him happy, everyone has a good day.

All in all, I'd say tipping is not required, but it is a nice gesture, even if it's just a few gold for the trouble

[Deleted]

Is it 'required'? No.

But you're a douche if you don't tip, and people will remember.

Either irrational fear or just sheer stupidity. I have been playing WoW since vanilla and I rarely if EVER run into the same person twice when needing anything crafted.

[shoooter]

When I make something for someone, they usually tip when I give them the final product. So he shouldn't have freaked out when you didn't tip with mats (or steal your stuff, which is despicable), but since he was helping you out with finally finding a blacksmith, you should have considered tipping him at least something 10g+ when he passed back the helm -- had he not flown off the handle, that is.

[beanman12345]

I would never tip anyone who demanded it. I agree it's a nice gesture, and as you say, you do it practically everytime with the exception of guildies who usually won't accept a tip anyways. your not in the wrong in the slightest, if anything he's in the wrong for demanding it.